Current is part of the new wave of fintech apps that partner with a traditional bank. In this case, banking services are provided by Choice Financial Group, member FDIC. Current reminds me a lot of the Chime app, with its quick sign-up process, modern smartphone app, and user-friendly feature set targeting the young and underbanked (average customer age for both is 27 years old).
Everyone now gets (no monthly fee):
- No minimum balance. No minimum opening deposit.
- No credit check. No Chexsystems check.
- No overdraft fees.
- Fee-free ATM withdrawals within the 40,000+ Allpoint ATM network.
- Access to paycheck up to 2 days early.
- Gas station authorization holds immediately released.
- On top of no overdraft fees, also get up to $100 in fee-free overdraft coverage.
- 3 Savings Pods (earn 4% APY on up to $6,000 total).
4% APY details. Current offers 4% APY on their “Savings Pods”, which is definitely a differentiator if they keep it up. A “savings pod” is like a sub-account where you can set aside money for a specific goal like “rainy day”, “travel”, etc. Interest is paid out daily. There are no restrictions on transferring money in and out of a “savings pod”.
You can create 3 savings pods with up to $2,000 earning interest per pod, for a total of up to $6,000 earning 4% APY. That works out to $240 a year, or $20 a month in interest.
Current says that this is not meant as a temporary rate (via Techcrunch in January 2022):
“We’re not approaching this as a promotional rate,” explains Current VP of Product, Josh Stephens. “We’re approaching it as something that’s available for all for the foreseeable future…I think, certainly, you see promotional rates from other folks out there with a lot of bells and whistles attached to it. But this is something that’s available for anyone, with no balance minimum, no fees,” he says.
Update December 2022: Current added a direct deposit requirement of $200+ per month to get the 4% APY on savings pods.
The Best Credit Card Bonus Offers – November 2024
Big List of Free Stocks from Brokerage Apps
Best Interest Rates on Cash - November 2024
Free Credit Scores x 3 + Free Credit Monitoring
Best No Fee 0% APR Balance Transfer Offers
Little-Known Cellular Data Plans That Can Save Big Money
How To Haggle Your Cable or Direct TV Bill
Big List of Free Consumer Data Reports (Credit, Rent, Work)
I signed up, entered the MrBeast promo codes, and was luckily awarded “Premium membership for life” just like you mentioned – this makes maxing out the account(s) completely worth it, because otherwise, accounting for the Premium membership fees would make the net return pretty much identical to the 3% APY I’m already getting through HMBradley.
Still waiting on my bonus with Swagbucks. They also never credited me for a home depot purchase. Their customer service is TERRIBLE, they said that it takes 30 days to get an email response!!
Good News: Current is about to announce that the premium tier will be free. I think this starts in May, but if you email them now they will waive your April fee.
Did this in February still waiting for the $120 from Swagbucks. Swagbucks is an ABSOLUTE SCAM, they make your jump thru a crazy amount of hoops!
To earn the points, you have to get them verified, then awarded, then posted.
To redeem them you have to do an identity verification, email verification, wait 5 days for your order to be verified, then approved, then 10 more for the order to be “delivered” electronically. And that’s if there is no “additional verification” required.
Each step requires you to complete a draconian “Customer Service” Form with order numbers, dates, screenshots, and additional information. A few days later they send you an auto-reply asking for the same information that was on the form (which of course isn’t emailed to you when you complete the form).
It is clear that their business model is to make it so difficult to earn and redeem points that you give up.
Thanks for the warning!
Current app says they just launched a $50 referral program. Get $50 for each referral who signs up and receives a qualifying direct deposit within 45 days of opening the account.
It says “update your account to see this offer” if you already have the Current app.
Forbes , Nerd Wallet, FinanceBuzz, and The College Investor both reviewed the Current app. Forbes review was in Dec 2021 while the other three were in Feb 2022. You can find these (all positive) reviews on-line.
Is the account FDIC insured ?
Yes, “Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group and Metropolitan Commercial Bank, Members FDIC.” My routing number is from Choice Financial Group, 091302966, which you can verify here:
https://www.aba.com/about-us/routing-number
FWIW you cannot use your Google Voice number. I don’t have a legitimate mobile number (mine gets 20 spam calls a day, I have it silenced on iPhone completely) so keep that in mind if your “real” number is basically a burner phone number.
If your bank isn’t in Plaid — this is cell phone only setup — setting up linked accounts might be, impossible. Once HMBradley is linked, I could setup savings pods right away from within the app. Lafayette isn’t supported via Plaid, unfortunately. Couldn’t link Alliant either, as it got tripped up on security codes and device registration.
I setup the DD; If it works, there should be some coin headed your way eventually. Thanks for all your posts!
Thanks!
I’d forgotten about this. Never did get the bonus from Current, sadly.
Might be worth it after bank rates go down and this stays at 4%. You can get the same at Bask Bank and no direct deposit.